Penquins, Poop & Boobys in Pisco, Peru

We docked in Pisco Peru early this morning. After breakfast, we took off for a water tour of the Ballestas Islands. 

 

greeted by local dancers

First we rode by bus along the coastline of the Paracas Peninsula to a hotel pier where we boarded boats that would take us along a coastal desert reserve unique to this part of the world. The beautiful turquoise water was a stark contrast to the surrounding expanse of sand.

 

beautiful beaches in the middle of the desert

boarding our boat

our guide, Sonia

 

explaining what we'll see!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it was cold in the water!

We were taken to an area where we saw the famous Candelabro de Paracas, an enormous pattern etched into the hillside in the style of the Nazca Lines. From there we continued to the cluster of Ballestas Islands, the most ecologically significant coastal wildlife sanctuary in Peru.

 

Paracas Candelabra or Candelabra of the Andes 

Like the Nazca lines, the origin of the Candelabro de Paracas has been the subject of much debate. For more info, here's a link. https://www.discoveryuk.com/mysteries/the-paracas-candelabra-desert-beacon-or-ancient-enigma/

It was hard to hear our guide over the boats noise, but the captain slowed and approached close enough to for us to observe and photograph some of the seabirds and marine mammals who live and breed on the small islands. 

 

Bellesta Islands home to much wildlife

 

There is a terrible smell around the islands coming from the enormous amount of seabird poop (guano) along the rocks. The Ballestas are sometimes referred to as the "White Islands" because of the huge amount of accumulated poop which makes them completely white in places. Our guide explained that it has to be harvested by hand. In the 19th century, guano made Peru one of the wealthiest nations in Latin America due to their global exports of guano. It is extremely nutrient dense because the seabirds eat fish in the cold Humboldt current. Can you imagine shoveling bird poop for a living?

 

There was a huge number of Peruvian boobies (different from the blue footed boobys of Galapagos), pelicans and Humboldt penguins. There were also large colonies of lazy sea lions and their young along the rocky shores. We got to watch a penguin hopping and making his way down the huge rock to take a dive into the water.

 

can you spot the Humboltd penguins?

Peruvian boobies

 

sea lions and their babies line the beach

can you spot the babies? (hint: they are black)

I’m not sure how fast the boat was going or how many miles we rode but it was probably a 30 minute ride each way. It was really cold on the water and we both felt like we’d been whipped to pieces by the time we returned to the dock!

 

lazy sea lions sunning on a buoy as we near land

 

Here's a couple of bus window shots of the downtown. Some in our group were dropped off in town but we were ready to get back to our "home away from home."